Saint Joe’s Quiz Bowl Team met this past Saturday for the DART online tournament. Seniors Max Nieber (science, math, and mythology), Cole Moser (literature and fine arts), Patrick McGreevy (history, literature, and geography), and junior Sam Thomas (literature) fought hard for a final score of 5-4 for the day. “A definite highlight was narrowly upsetting the #21 team in the nation,” reports Ben :Dillon, one of the team’s moderator’s. The team’s season record is now 17 wins to 10 losses, and they finished in 5th place overall out of 24 teams, playing Interlochen Academy (MI), Dublin Scioto (OH), Dewitt (MI), Detroit Catholic Central (MI) 4, Detroit Catholic Central (MI) 1, Beavercreek (OH) 2, Carmel, Kinkaid (TX), and Solon (OH) 2.

While on lunch break, the team also took the opportunity to express how Quiz Bowl as a sport has changed since Covid hit. All tournaments, games, and practices have been online this season, conducted either through Discord or Zoom. They frequently use voice channels with ‘rooms’ of other teams to communicate, buzz in, and answer questions. To make the transition even less smooth, issues with internet connection and communication have also surfaced, as well as concerns over cheating. However, through it all, the team has persevered, completely earning every win they get.

“It’s been different, but we’re adapting to it, and it’s been going pretty well,” Niebur reports in an interview.

The team also reported that Covid has significantly limited their ability to play in tournaments and schedule practices. In fact, during the first half of their season they only played three tournaments (one being the notable Purdue Boilermaker Buzzathon), all three of them online. However, this too has a flip side! Given the nature of the online tournaments, the team has had the opportunity to play teams as far away as Texas, which might have been a rare occurrence were it not for Covid!